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It is a tricky task for startups to raise funding.

Editor’s note: Make sure to bookmark this page to follow the latest startup accelerator programs deadlines as we keep updating the list.

Want to suggest a startup program? Fill in this contact form.

Luckily, more emerging startup initiatives in Europe aim to promote entrepreneurship and nurture more successful company founders on the European continent.

According to the research conducted by CB Insights, funding (or running out of funds) is the second most common reason why startups fail.

Thus, it is critical for startup founders to raise funds. But how?

One of the proven ways to do so is by joining a startup accelerator program.

What are startup accelerator programs?

A startup accelerator program is an intensive business and personal development initiative that supports a small team of founders, typically working on their own business ideas.

The support provided includes mentorship, affordable office spaces, and some initial capital.

In a nutshell, a program consists of the following core elements:

  • A highly competitive application process open to all.
  • A provision of pre-seed investment, normally in exchange for a single-digit equity stake.
  • A focus on small teams rather than individual founders.
  • Time-limited support comprised of programmed events and intensive mentorship.
  • A final event – “A demo day” – is when startups pitch their ideas to raise a bigger pot of funding to continue growing their business.

At the same time, it is important to realize that startup accelerators are ultimately investment management companies. Such companies are also known as venture capital firms (or VCs).

They seek out the most promising early-stage companies and invest in them.

However, they expect companies to raise the next rounds of funding and ultimately (and hopefully) achieve an exit. Founders can do this either through acquisitions or Initial Public Offerings (IPOs).

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Best startup accelerator programs in Europe

Our team at AlphaGamma has compiled a list of the most prominent accelerator programs based in Europe. So you can keep up with the latest program deadlines in one place.

To save you time, we keep adding new programs and refreshing the deadlines whenever possible.

Here are the best startup accelerator programs in Europe sorted in alphabetical order:

Program Location The offer Duration Upcoming deadline*
Accelerace København, Denmark Investments up to 500 000 DKK + corporate matchmaking 5 Months Rolling basis
Antler Amsterdam Amsterdam, the Netherlands € 100,000 for 10% equity + monthly allowance for the duration of the program 6 Months Rolling basis
Antler London London, UK £ 100,000 for 10% equity + monthly allowance for the duration of the program 6 Months Rolling basis
Antler Oslo Oslo, Norway NOK 1M for 10% equity + monthly allowance for the duration of the program 6 Months Rolling basis
Antler Stockholm Stockholm, Sweden SEK 1M for 10% equity; monthly allowance of
€ 2,500		 6 Months Rolling basis
APX Berlin,
Germany		 € 50,000 for 5% equity 3 Months Rolling basis
Barclays Accelerator London,
UK		 up to
$ 120,000 as an investment		 13 Weeks Rolling basis
Bethnal Green Ventures London,
UK		 £ 60,000 as an investment 6 Weeks Rolling basis
Birdhouse Antwerp, Belgium Up to € 100K in funding; mentoring, coaching & access to additional investors 4 Months Rolling basis
Distill Ventures London,
UK		 £ 150,000 6 Months Rolling basis
Entrepreneur First London,
UK		 £ 15,000 + monthly allowance for 8% equity 6 Months March 2025, Application open soon
EWOR Fellowships Remote; Europe Focus Up to € 150,000 investment, 0 – 2% education fee, mentoring & coaching 6-10 Months Rolling basis
Microsoft Accelerator Berlin,
Germany		 Mentoring & coaching up to 6 Months Rolling basis
NDRC Dublin, Ireland up to
€ 130,000		 12 to 24 Weeks Will reopen soon
PANDO Ventures Frankfurt, Germany Mentoring, coaching & access to investors 12 Weeks Rolling basis
Rockstart AgriFood Copenhagen, Denmark; Amsterdam, the Netherlands and online €100,000 convertible loan from the fund, €65,000 (i.e. net cash proceeds to your company of €35,000) 5 Months Rolling basis
Rockstart Energy Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and online €100,000 convertible loan from the fund, €65k (i.e. net cash proceeds to your company of €35,000) 5 Months Rolling basis
Seedstars Accelerator Carouge, Geneva Coaching, mentoring & access to investors 3-6 Months Rolling basis
Startup Reykjavik Reykjavik, Iceland $ 23,500 10 Weeks Will reopen soon
Startup Wise Guys Tallinn,
Estonia; Milan and Cosenza, Italy; Copenhagen, Denmark; Riga, Latvia; Vilnius, Lithuania		 € 50,000 on average 5 Months Rolling basis
Startupbootcamp London; Amsterdam, and online € 15,000 for 8% equity 3 Months Rolling basis
Sting Accelerate Stockholm, Sweden 500K SEK investment, coaching & mentoring 4 months Will reopen soon
Techstars London London,
UK		 $ 20,000 for 6% equity + $100,000 convertible note 3 Months November 20, 2024
Yunus Social Business Accelerator Europe up to
€ 500,000		 4 Months Rolling basis

* Deadlines are subject to change, so make sure to check the official websites for the latest updates

What is the difference between a startup accelerator and a business incubator?

It is easy to get lost in various startup definitions that intuitively are synonymous. But in fact, they are not.

The following definitions will help you navigate the startup ecosystems and identify which programs are suited to your current development stage.

Workspace

A workspace is an office location that provides desks, office space, and infrastructure at a significantly reduced or discounted rate for startups and growing businesses.

Generally, you can expect to have access to standard business amenities, with conditions ranging from very basic to more refined setups.

Workspaces can be offered as standalone locations or as part of a larger network (e.g., startup accelerator or business incubator). Desks are usually charged at a monthly rate, with discounts available for advance payments.

Startup Weekends

These events typically last between 48 to 72 hours and aim to form new startup teams. These teams then develop business ideas within the given time limit.

Participants can either be individuals with no initial connections, or existing teams joining to fast-track their ideas.

Such events also have flexible agendas. Some invite budding or active founders working on defined business ideas, while others encourage individuals to come up with new business ideas on the spot.

Some of these events charge a small participation fee. Yet you’re not obliged to continue working on your business ideas after the weekend.

Startup Accelerator

Startup accelerators are profit-driven programs that invite small founding teams and form ‘cohorts’ of new cohorts.

The program organizers expect founders to show some traction with their businesses: a fully functioning prototype, early user feedback, and their first paying customers. However, some programs accept founders even with just business ideas.

Startup accelerators provide seed capital, mentorship, and structured events over a period of time – generally 3 to 4 months – in return for an equity stake, which varies between 5-10%.

At the end of the program, startups “graduate” by pitching their ideas at a demo day to a panel of experts and investors, often securing their first significant investment.

Business Incubator

These organizations actively support the growth of startups by offering resources, services, and connections through a team of experts.

There are two types of incubators. In one, the incubator develops an idea and hands it over to an external team to eventually run it. In the other, participants come up with their own ideas, similar to workspaces.

In the first case, the incubator asks for an equity stake in the company in exchange for their services. In the second model, entrepreneurs may pay a monthly fee to utilize the incubator’s resources.

Have you participated in any of these startup accelerator programs before? Or maybe you have joined others that are not listed here? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Have a program to suggest? Let me know in the comments below or share it with us via the contact form.

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42 COMMENTS

  1. Very useful information! I just have started to work on new project and looking for external financing for development and testing of the concept, product certification, etc. This really helps me to evaluate the available sources of financing and compare them in a single place. Good job!

  2. That is just what I am looking for! I am working on a mobile application with my team, so this will be of great use. Just one question: do those programs only work on an equity basis as you mentioned or do some of them provide capital in exchange for interest? Since we would like to keep total shares amongst our team members, we are more interested in receiving a loan for our startup.

  4. Selin Yuce You’re welcome! It really depends case by case: some accelerators and incubators are not as flexible as the others. However, if they spot a great opportunity, they will deviate from the standards, giving you more room for negotiation. Plus, when you have so many opportunities (=accelerator programs), you have some options on the table, too. 

    There’s going to be an article devoted to structuring deals, so check AlphaGamma more often. 🙂
    Have a good day!

  5. Wait what?  You call this the “best” startup accelerator programs in Europe yet you missed one of the top, if not the best, Microsoft Ventures Accelerator?  Honestly, this list looks like a compilation of any and all accelerators vs “the best” — the best would consist of maybe no more than 10 if you’re lucky, and of the 10 – Microsoft Ventures is in the top 3.

    Yeah I used to run Microsoft Ventures globally, but all bias aside, I would think that most of the people on your list would agree.  Microsoft is super entrepreneur friendly, they don’t expect you to buy anything, oh and they take no equity.  

    Update your list man.  Arthur Gopak.  Speak to some of the best people who run top accelerators in Europe, Andy McCartney (London), Roxanne Varza (Paris), and Marius Sewing (Berlin).   @MSFTVentures

  6. RahulSood Thank you for your insight, Rahul, and for dropping by at AlphaGamma! 🙂 I’ve just had a look at the Microsoft Ventures Program, and it looks interesting indeed. Just a quick question: does it also offer seed funding, and if yes, how much? 
    I sent this question to your (former) colleagues in a Berlin office today, will update this table once I get the info.
    Thanks, and I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this. Wish you a great evening!

  7. It would have been interesting beside the investment what else you can expect. Also the equity they’ll take. Also as Rahul says, Microsoft Ventures is extremely interesting.

    But it’s still a good list. Would be also nice for other continents. 🙂

  8. Matthias Voigt Thanks a lot for the suggestions, we will expand on the table shortly. 🙂 
    Yes, we have plans for other continents, too — stay tuned for more! Have a great day!

  9. Italy’s most advanced acceleration programme is http://www.luissenlabs.com. the website is English only. We give €30k cash + €30k services. Programme is 5 months. We assign 3 advisors. We take 10% and 3% for the advisors. 2 batches per year. We are based in Rome. All details on our website. Mentoring, coaching, seminars. 50 events per year on premises. 2 months product validation, 2 months market validation 1 month revenue generation. Next call will be October 2015. Follow us on the website and socials.

  10. Happy to see our accelerator (FINODEX) is shown here. Just to let you all know we DO NOT take equity and offer free consulting services on top. We are part of a bigger programme called FIWARE Accelerate which is co-funded by the European Commission.

  11. Thrilled to see 33entrepreneurs is part of this ranking ! Thanks @alphagamma ! 
    We are the first accelerator worldwide in #foodtech #traveltech and #wine&spirits tech and a global VC fund. We invest in international start-ups. 
    Website : http://www.33entrepreneurs.net/
    Twitter : https://twitter.com/33entrepreneurs 
    Linkedin : https://goo.gl/BvcBYg
    Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/33entrepreneurs?fref=ts
    Check it out and don’t hesitate to send me a message (audrey@33entrepreneurs.co) if you want more info on us !

  12. […] Best startup accelerator programs in Europe | AlphaGamma. It can be a tricky task for startups to raise funding. According to the research conducted by CB insights, funding (or running out of funds) is the second reason why startups fail. Luckily, there are more emerging startup initiatives in Europe that aim to nurture more successful entrepreneurs on the continent. One of such initiatives is called a startup accelerator program. What is a startup accelerator program? A startup accelerator program is an intensive business and personal development program which supports a small team of founders, usually with a business idea of their own. An application process that is open to all, yet highly competitive.A provision of pre-seed investment, normally in exchange for a single-digit equity.A focus on small teams not individual founders.Time-limited support comprising programmed events and intensive mentoring.A final – “A demo day” – when startups pitch their ideas to raise first big funding. […]

  16. Great article, I like how you explained the startup scene.  I also wondered if you ever heard of the YEi Start in France accelerator program?

  17. Great list. Just wondering: are these the top accelerator programs, or is this meant to be an overview of what’s available in Europe? If the latter, you should consider adding the :agile accelerator from E.On http://eon-agile.com/

  23. Arthur Gopak Actually I’m not associated with the accelerator – just been at their event and met the people who run the program in Cork. They just had a demo day of the 2nd batch. If you’d like to learn more, you could contact https://twitter.com/onetruecathal

  24. Hi Arthur,
    I see you’ve missed Eleven 🙂 We are one of the most active accelerators in Europe with 107 companies so far http://11.me/. Our application window opens on September 1st.

  29. http://bornglobal.se/ in Sweden!
    Born Global is an accelerator program for ambitious Swedish startups that aspire to go global. The program will put ten startups through an intensive process of Customer Development and Business Prototyping in an effort to accelerate their identification of scalable business models. The methods used are developed by faculty at Stanford University and Chalmers in collaboration with entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and Sweden. The program has been running since 2012 accelerating 50+ startups.

  31. lln  Hello there, thanks a lot for dropping us a line! We would be glad to help you out. Could you please drop us a line to ? Wish you a pleasant day, and talk to you soon!

  32. romainamblard  Hello Romain, thanks again for leaving comment! I messaged you back but didn’t hear back from you. Let me know if you want to still discuss how we can help you. Cheers! Arthur

  34. CathrineAsklint  Hello Cathrine, thank you for sharing your thoughts. We would be glad to help you find companies for your program. Could you please drop us a line at ? Then we will take it from there. Cheers!

  35. Arthur Gopak Miguel Garcia Absolutely, FIWARE and EU accelerators rather go in a different article. And contact the startups which have gone through the programs always: research-article to better know the impact and opinions of the accelerators.

  36. Hi Arthur, where is the “BEST accelerator programs” coming from? What criteria is being used to get them shortlisted? Or is this just a growing list of all accelerators?
    Thanks!

  42. Thank you for this article! I’m already working on a fintech startup, I’d love to apply to these programs this yeat. Thanks so much!

    M.

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